This invention relates to powdered apparatus for lifting positioning and transporting rolls of material wrapped about hollow cylindrical cores.
Many manufacturing processes require the use of various materials such as packaging, films, plastic, paper, or foil which are normally supplied to machinery in roll form. Modern machinery, which has become larger and faster, requires larger rolls containing more material in order to reduce the need for shut down or production delays during roll changes of rolled materials. These larger rolls, up to 24 inches in width, and 40 inches in diameter, can weigh over 800 pounds. The preferred method of roll shipment is on a pallet, or other similar support or container, with the roll core in the vertical position (core vertical). Shipment of the roll in an upright position (core horizontal) requires blocking or chocking the rolls to prevent instability, and often results in damage to the material or machinery upon use, due to imbalance created during transport or storage.
Nearly all machinery requires the roll to be in the core horizontal position during use. As these large rolls are far too heavy for human manipulation, a mechanical method of manipulating rolls from the preferred shipping position (core vertical), to the use position (core horizontal), and transporting them from the storage or shipping site to the machinery is warranted. This mechanical method, in the past, has generally been by the use of general purpose machines such as fork lifts, but this often results in damage to the material or to the roll.
After the rolled material has been removed from storage or shipping and transported to the site of use, positioning on a mandrel of utilization of machinery has often been accomplished in a make-shift way. While fork lifts have the means to manipulate an object vertically, they often do not have the capability of moving an object in other directions. This may result in attempts to manually manipulate the roll stock from the conventional device to the mandrel, often resulting in damage to the roll stock and even injury to technicians.
Another drawback with the use of general purpose machines, such as fork lifts is that they are relatively expensive. More flexible, safer, and cleaner general purpose designs are increasingly expensive, and this kind of expense is not warranted when a commercial application only requires the efficient manipulation and transport of heavy rolled materials.